In the 18th and 19th centuries, military strategy was based on a combination of shock and firepower as well as manoeuvres. While firepower can rightly be attributed to the infantry and artillery, shock is the task of the cavalry, while manoeuvres, whether encirclement, pursuit or flanking, are mainly the responsibility of light cavalry, the archetype of which is the hussars. These tactical principles of Napoleon were decisive in the creation of 14 hussar regiments within the Grande Armée. They were responsible for the vanguard battles and also took part in all major cavalry attacks from Louis XIV to the war of 1870-1871. The articles compiled here for the first time were published between 1887 and 1892 by Commandant de Juzancourt (1845-1896) in the Revue de cavalerie. They first provide an overview of the history of the hussar regiments of the First Empire, going back to their origins in the Hungarian corps established under Louis XIV. Based on the changes and innovations during the Revolution and the First Empire, the author then traces the history of these regiments through the people until their dissolution in 1815. From the Second Restoration onwards, however, new hussar regiments were formed that had no direct connection to the previous ones. The Précis now follows the lineage by number and tells the story of the regiments newly founded in 1816 until 1890, linking them to their predecessors from 1815 on the basis of their rank.
